The men include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who had been held on a $1 million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Hossein Nayeri, 37, had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. He and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis, authorities said.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the US to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

The third escaped inmate, 43-year-old Bac Duong, was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.

The maximum security jail, in Santa Ana, about 64km southeast of Los Angeles, is a concrete compound in the city’s civic centre. It boasts concrete walls rising several stories and a roof lined with loops of barbed wire.

Orange Country sheriff’s lieutenant Jeff Hallock said the inmates were last seen at the jail during the first body count of the day at 5am.

It wasn’t until the second and final count of the day, around 8pm, that anyone noticed they were missing. The trio could have escaped at any time between the morning and evening counts on Friday, Hallock said.

Haddock also said there was some kind of disturbance at the jail that may have been part of the escape plan. It slightly delayed the discovery that the men were missing, he said.

The men’s escape was carefully plotted. Using tools they had smuggled into the prison, the men cut through 1.3cm steel bars.

“They had some tools. Where they got those tools and how they got them, we do not know that,’’ sheriff Sandra Hutchens said.

They managed to access the jail’s plumbing system and cut their way through, finally emerging into an unguarded area of the roof where they were able to abseil to the ground using some kind of makeshift rope. Then they were free.

It is unclear whether the men had any help from fellow inmates or from someone on the outside.

Some “small pieces of evidence” have been collected and investigators will be looking at surveillance camera footage, Hallock said.

The men were last wearing orange jumpsuits. It was unclear whether they were armed but they should be considered very dangerous, Hallock said.

“I think the public should expect the worst if they’re encountering them and call 911 and allow the professionals to respond,” Hallock said.